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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  2. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. rock — a stone
  2. rest — what's left
  3. cell — a phone
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. fork — in a road
  7. cold — not warm
  8. rock — music
  9. rest — what's left
  10. pop — to visit
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. pop — soda
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. file — a document
  15. cell — in biology
  16. cold — an illness
  17. file — a line of people
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. pop — music
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. file — a tool
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. rest — a break
  24. mine — for digging

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com